17 October 2012

She's Gone Natural Too: Update

Hello everyone, do you remember my earlier summer post mentioning my mom's decision to go natural? Check it out here. It's been around 3½ months since she big chopped (BC) and she's enjoyed every minute.


We've since learnt that it's easy to get caught up in some of the common misconceptions surrounding the desire to go natural:

Natural hair will be easy 
A twa certainly looks and feels easy but it doesn't stay low maintenance for long.
As the length comes in and the styling options increase,
hair maintence becomes a little more complex
requiring more time, effort and patience.

I'll have one set regime
In the weeks following your  natural decision you'll 
become a custom to a particular regime that your hair responds well 
to but as it grows out things might not work as well as they once did. 
Your hair will be exposed to the change in seasons
as well as your lifestyle choices
 which require some getting used to as
you go through your first year as a natural.

I'll have my true hair texture straight away
Don't get caught out by the textural changes afro hair 
can go through as it grows. It may increase in density 
and exhibit a tighter or more defined coil pattern.
This often leads to drier hair that needs to be cared for in different ways.

I can't do anything with my short hair
You can! Grow out your hair just 3" and you'll have styling options. 
Because of shrinkage my mom didn't think much was going 
on hair-wise until we tried an easy 
two strand twist style a few weeks ago:


using olive oil and water
they stayed in with ease


My mother experienced most of the issues above. First she had to deal with the hair care products she possessed. Things like; holding sprays, setting lotions and creamy leave in conditioners. Having found that they didn't give her soft, manageable hair, she has since opted for simpler ingredients such as almond oil, water and herb infused deep conditioners. She had to wait a few weeks to see positive results.

 
less of this
We then came to the issue of styling tools: At first there was little she could do with a 2" fro but lately she's felt the need to comb through and pick it out each morning and she suddenly started to experience breakage.  After getting in on YouTube's natural hair world we soon learnt from our mistakes. So it's out with the hot irons, afros picks and hair grips and in with a wide tooth comb and detangler.

more of this
She also learnt that even on short hair there is still a "root" and a "tip". Barely distinguishable when you leave the salon chair with something closer to a fade than an afro but as it grows out, even a couple of inches, it's important to comb from the ends first by hand stretching sections of hair and working towards the root.

YouTube gave us a TON of styling ideas for various hair lengths and textures. We had a lot of fun watching the magic hands of some of these brilliant women, all doing their own hair in their own homes. I'd like to share a video from my mom's favourite natural hair Youtuber - SimplYounique:


Peace
-NaturaLocs

**Photography ownership is held with the blog account holder. DONOT use without permission. All other material is publicly available on the world wide web.**

6 comments:

  1. I remember when I first went natural it was such an effort. I really didn't feel pretty and it was a whole new way of caring for my tresses. Thank God for you tube.

    Congratulations to you mummy this a great story especially for the newbie.xx

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    Replies
    1. Thanks Coco, I agree. I was not a twa fan, it just didn't look feminine.

      I only cut my hair to start dreads anyway so loose hair was lost of me but I'm looking forward to styling my mom's hair in the future. I second that for YouTube!
      :)))

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  2. I totally agree. Where would we be with out you tube.
    Mum's hair looks great.
    With all style choices there are highs and lows to begin with but then you roll with the punches and hope the future holds more highs.
    I sense your fair hand in photo's 2 & 3 would I be right !
    If so your confidence is rubbing of on mum. I wish her well on her journey and hope to see more features on her in the future.
    Stay blessed.

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    Replies
    1. Thank you Natty, yep I put the twists in. Could've been the beginning of a loc journey if it were up to me haha!

      I'm having some hair issues of own, hoping to get some insight from you in my next post.

      Peace :))

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  3. I remember when I first went natural years ago too. It was exciting in the beginning and then suddenly turned stressful. I started around 2004 and I didn't know about blogs and vlogs. I was like a chicken without a head, running around, buying stuff I thought could make the process easier and then discarding them when they didn't work, smelled awful, or gave me an allergic reaction. I wish I had known about youtube natural hair vlogs and tutorials back then.

    Anyway, props to you and your mom. She looks beautiful natural! I've been trying to get my mom to go natural but my efforts aren't working. She just gives me that "why would I ever do that" look. hahaha!!! That's my mommy. :)

    Btw, I love how close you are with your mom. That's special. :)

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. My mom was the same 6 months ago and there's she was one day, sporting a twa haha.

      Her hair was lovely when it was relaxed too, had it's health and lustre not deteriorated so much I wouldn't have minded if she'd kept it the way it was. I don't think any hair style is permanent. They all have a shelf life because our hair goes through the same highs and lows that we do. The only way to keep all of the hair on your head from root to tip is to never experience stress, worry, suffering, hormonal changes dietary fluctuations or ageing. Whether we're trimming every few months, getting repeated Big chops or experiencing breakage as time goes on, we all lose the hair we have now. It's a cycle, new hair replaces old eventually.

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